The petition against the release of the convicts of the Bilkis Bano case was heard in the Supreme Court today. After hearing the arguments of both the sides, the Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Gujarat government, as well as directed all the convicts to be parties. Now the next hearing of this case will be held after two weeks.
Let us tell you that after the Godhra incident, riots broke out in Gujarat and during this riot seven members of the family of Bilkis Bana were killed. Not only this, the rioters had also gang-raped Bilkis Bano.
Also read: “Travesty of Justice”: US organization USCIRF on release of Bilkis Bano’s gangrape convicts
On January 21, 2008, a special CBI court in Mumbai sentenced all 11 accused to life imprisonment in the murder and gang rape case. Later the Bombay High Court upheld their sentence. These convicts served in jail for more than 15 years, after which one of them approached the Supreme Court for his premature release.
The top court had directed the Gujarat government to look into the issue of remission of his sentence as per the 1992 policy on the date of his conviction. Following this, the government constituted a committee and issued an order for the premature release of all the convicts.
It is noteworthy that after the Godhra incident, riots broke out in Gujarat and during this riot, on 3 March 2002, Hindutva mob attacked the family of Bilkis Bano in Randhikpur village of Limkheda taluka of Dahod district. Bilkis Bano, who was then five months pregnant, was gang-raped and seven of her family members brutally murdered by the rioters.